Case: 19-20272 Document: 00515525562 Page: 1 Date Filed: 08/13/2020 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit FILED August 13, 2020 No. 19-20272 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk National Coalition for Men; James Lesmeister, individually and on behalf of others similarly situated; Anthony Davis, Plaintiffs—Appellees, versus Selective Service System; Donald Benton, as Director of Selective Service System, Defendants—Appellants. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:16-CV-3362 Before Wiener, Stewart, and Willett, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: Plaintiffs-Appellees James Lesmeister, Anthony Davis, and the National Coalition for Men sued Defendant-Appellants the Selective Service System and its director (collectively, “the Government”) alleging that the male-only military draft is unlawful sex discrimination. The district court granted Plaintiffs-Appellees declaratory judgment, holding that requiring only men to register for the draft violated their Fifth Amendment rights. Case: 19-20272 Document: 00515525562 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/13/2020 No. 19-20272 Because that judgment directly contradicts the Supreme Court’s holding in Rostker v. Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57, 78–79 (1981), and only the Supreme Court may revise its precedent, we REVERSE. I. Background The Military Selective Service Act (the “Act”) requires essentially all male citizens and immigrants between the ages of eighteen and twenty-six to register with the Selective Service System, a federal agency, to facilitate their conscription in the event of a military draft. 50 U.S.C. §§ 3802(a), 3809. Men who fail to register or otherwise comply with the Act and its implementing regulations may be fined, imprisoned, and/or denied federal benefits. Id. §§ 3328, 3811(a), 3811(f). The Act does not require women to register. See id. § 3802(a). In 1980, President Carter recommended to Congress that the Act be extended to cover women. See Rostker, 453 U.S. at 60 (citing House Committee on Armed Services, Presidential Recommendations for Selective Service Reform—A Report to Congress Prepared Pursuant to Pub. L. 96– 107, 96th Cong., 2d Sess., 20–23 (Comm. Print No. 19, 1980), App. 57–61). Congress declined after “consider[ing] the question at great length” with “extensive testimony and evidence.” Id. at 61, 72. In 1981, the Supreme Court held in Rostker v. Goldberg that male-only registration did not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Id. at 78–79. The court based its reasoning on the fact that women were then barred from serving in combat and deferred to Congress’s considered judgment about how to run the military. See id. at 76–77. Since then, the military has gradually integrated women into combat roles. In the early 1990s, Congress repealed the statutory bans on women serving on combat aircraft and ships. Pub. L. No. 103-160, § 541, 107 Stat. 1547, 1659 (1993), repealing 10 U.S.C. § 6015 (1988) (ships), Pub. L. No. 102- 2 Case: 19-20272 Document: 00515525562 Page: 3 Date Filed: 08/13/2020 No. 19-20272 190, § 531, 105 Stat. 1290, 1365 (1991) (aircraft). In 2013, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) announced its intention to open all remaining combat positions to women, the last of which ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals